Wednesday, March 18, 2015

After an
out-of-control spell triggers the zombie apocalypse, Lizzy Addams is left in
the ruins of Chicago with only the slightly unhinged commentary—and endless
erotic appetites—of her inner demon for company. Her blood supply dwindling,
she is forced to find survivors to feed from, or die trying.

Officer Angela
Kinney was on duty when hungry corpses overwhelmed the city. The survivors look
to her for leadership, but nothing prepared her for a beautiful monster who
offers safety in exchange for blood.

Sean MacMillan
never expected to see Lizzy again after she rejected his attempts to lure her
back to the vampire fold. But with his flock threatened by the horde and his
murderous vampire brother, Lizzy is the only one he can trust to keep them safe.

The veil of
secrecy shrouding the supernatural world torn apart, humanity’s only hope is to
forge an alliance with vampires, werewolves, and things that go bump in the
night. Though accepting their aid could be a devil’s bargain that puts humans
at the bottom of the food chain.

Annie Waters hates
birthdays. At least she hates her birthdays. Because every year her mother told
the story of her grandmother's ghostly appearance in the delivery room. But the
worst birthday was her sixteenth--the day she killed her dad.

Forced to move to
Shady Cove, Maine, Annie is drawn deep into the world of the supernatural by
her new friend, Harmony. Now, tormented by an angry spirit, Annie has only nine
days to unravel the secrets of the Caldwell School or join the spirit world
herself

Teri Lee is the
author of Troubled Spirits, a YA paranormal novel. Growing up in Maine, Teri
spent hours exploring in the woods with her friends dreaming up places like
‘Land of the Lost’, ‘Trouble Hill’, and ‘Paradise’. If she wasn’t in the woods,
you’d find her lost in a book. And today not much has changed. She’s still
dreaming up imaginary places, getting lost in a book, and sometimes lost in the
woods. When she’s not writing you’ll find her saving lives and rescuing
splinters in the ER.

Aurora Firenze
lives a quiet life hiding in a junkyard. Her repair shop is the last hope for
gadgets and gizmos before they get tossed onto the trash towers. Fortunately,
Aurora can fix almost anything, including mages, though repairing people with
metal enchantments is highly illegal.

Edmund Rallis,
heir to the Rallis senate seat, has spent months hunting down his errant
enchantress. He’ll play every game he knows to win her back and entice her to
share the secrets she hides. But he’s inadvertently put her on the frontlines
of a new game, one with an opponent who’s determined to destroy Rallis
Territory and drive the Republic toward war. If the new enemy isn’t stopped in
time, Edmund will lose his enchantress again—and this time there won’t be
another chance.

The
keep-out spell awoke at her approach. The enchanted mesh of vines and branches
that blocked the entrance to Rallis Territory’s forbidden forest vibrated in
welcome as its creator returned. Aurora Firenze cast her vibes along the
perimeter of her spell, testing and prodding. Its strength resonated back. It
was as strong as it had been six months ago when she’d created it and hid her
secrets within the forest’s depths. She let go of a relieved breath, but it
didn’t cure her tension.

Her
nerves were strung tight, as if she’d spent hours placating customers in her
repair shop. But the day had been quiet. She’d even made decent progress—fixing
a curling iron with a too-hot heating spell and a stapler that had a bad habit
of chasing the boss around the conference table. Yet a restlessness itched at
her skin with an unpleasant persistence. She’d closed up early and headed out
for the short walk to the forest. Within its heart, she’d find the peace to
wash away this unease.

She
sent another stream of vibes into the keep-out spell. A discreet doorway
formed. With a quick glance around the barren field and the junkyard behind
her, she stepped beneath her illegal spell.

As she
brushed against the branches, a faint thump sounded at her feet—the soft crash
of a pinecone or a weak branch falling to the ground. A normal forest noise.
She flinched anyway. Her glitter puffed around her in an anxious cloud as her
mage energy escaped her control. It was the fifth time today. Enchantresses did
not make good criminals. She should probably let the other three in existence
know, in case they were considering lives of crime. Those blasted sparkly
clouds would blow their covers wide open.

She
lifted her foot to continue into the small forest that was tucked inside the
territory’s capital city, but stopped. A proper lawbreaker should investigate
mysterious noises outside her lair. She turned and scanned the ground for the
culprit. A gold coin glinted in the crisp weeds. That wasn’t normal. She
reached to pick it up, scanning the field and the junkyard beyond with a
twitchy gaze. Empty. She was alone.

Behind
her, the forest shuttered closed, nearly catching her in its fortress wall. She
jumped forward with a surprised lurch at the swat of vines and twigs. A basic
rule of illegal enchantments: get out of the way or risk being incorporated
into the spell.

Ignoring
the sting of the swat, she stared at the coin. It was tarnished at the edges, a
used-up charm. See-me-not was embossed on its golden surface. She jerked her
head up. A man stood ten paces away. He was tall, broad...beyond familiar.

“Edmund,”
she whispered. A shiver tiptoed across her shoulders like kisses, soft lips
that hid a sharp bite. Her nerves stretched thinner yet, trapped in a battle
between memories of lovers’ frolics and the promise of a dark fate that had
just materialized from thin air.

Behind
her, the forest’s trees rustled with the wind, a warning to retreat, one she
dare not heed. Not until she knew why he’d finally come searching for her. She
hadn’t thought he’d ever come back.

He
prowled forward. “Hello, princess.” Though his words might have held some
affection, nothing of the lover she’d once known appeared in his countenance.
He lifted his left hand to reveal a glowing ball of mage vibes in his palm. His
blue eyes reflected the tiny flashes of energy, and his power snapped in the
air like a miniature electrical storm. The heir to the most powerful territory
in the Republic had quite a steam of anger built up.

Dark
hair waved across his forehead, and little curls peeked out at the edges of his
neck. Though the wind buffeted and pushed at Aurora, winter’s boldness didn’t
dare touch Edmund, not his hair, nor his dark gray suit or scarlet tie.

The
hard slope of his nose matched the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones. When
he smiled, he was deadly handsome. At the moment, he was simply deadly.

“Aurora.”
He cast her name through the air and a piece of her soul tumbled away, as if it
might dash toward him and cling like a forlorn, discarded lover. But he hadn’t
discarded her....

“You
stand accused of melding earthen metals to human flesh with an enchantment.”

Her
heart thumped once, hard and loud, and then took off with a sprint, drenching
her veins from head to toe with lightning sharp fright.

Goddess,
he’d found out. How?

Even as
she thought it, he revealed the answer. The glow faded from his ball of energy
to reveal a small metal sphere. Her racing heart shriveled at the sight,
pulling the rest of her organs with it, as if they thought to hide, seeking a
chance to slip past this disaster unnoticed and, perhaps, survive. She shifted
her feet on the ground, unable to resist the fear pumping through her core.
Run, her gut whispered. She couldn’t afford to listen... not with the evidence
sitting in his hand.

The
sphere was heavier than it looked. She knew that. After all, she’d made
it...and thought it long gone. He closed his fingers around it, capturing her
fate within his fist.

“How’d
you get that?” Her fast words shot out, hustling forward before fear, creeping
up her legs with tingles and pricks, stole her voice.

“You
ought to be down on your knees thanking me for confiscating it.” His voice was
sharp and cutting. He sounded like a stranger, his jokes and teasing wit long
gone.

“What
did you do? Sneak into the junkyard and pluck his eye from his skull? Has it
been hiding under your pillow for six months?” Not at all where she’d thought
it was. Betrayal jolted through her. “Hardly actions befitting the heir of the
mighty Rallis realm.” Her voice wavered.

“You
have no idea what I’ve done.”

About
the Author:

Anise Rae has been
reading romance novels since she first discovered her grandmother’s stash of
books hidden away in a cabinet. Learning that she wasn’t the only one dreaming
about love and magic was a turning point in her life. She started her own stash
of books and wrote a few too.

A native of Ohio,
Anise long ago moved south, armed with boxes of romance novels and degrees in
chemistry and library science. Creating chemistry on the page between two
lovers proved to be a lot more fun than working with test tubes in a lab or
searching patent databases. She refocused on writing.

Her stories
revolve around heroines who dare to stand up to society’s expectations and be
true to themselves and heroes with plenty of savvy to fall in love with such
brave women.

Anise lives in
Atlanta with her two children and a fluffy dog that has an amazing ability to
find dirty socks.

For information on
future releases and giveaways, sign up for her newsletter at www.aniserae.com

Jayson lives among the
shadows of Hestoria, his sole purpose for staying alive – to protect his half
of the Seer’s crystal. Exiled from his homeland for loving the king’s daughter,
Ivanore, Jayson is now pursued by two opposing factions: the Vatéz (League of
Sorcerers) who intend to use the crystal for their own selfish gain, and the
Guilde, the ancient guardians of the crystal.

Meanwhile,
Ivanore flees from her father to Hestoria in search of Jayson. As the Seer, she
is plagued with visions of him being tortured and is determined to rescue him.
When the Vatéz capture her, however, she unwittingly jeopardizes everything
Jayson has vowed to protect. He must now make a terrible choice: Should he save
Ivanore or save the crystal?

Though written for adults, The Crystal Keeper series is the
prequel to Ms. Reyes' fantasy series for children, The Celestine
Chronicles.

Senior Editor of
Skyrocket Press and Editor-in-Chief of Middle Shelf Magazine, Laurisa White
Reyes is the author of several middle grade and young adult novels,
including The Rock of Ivanore,The Last Enchanter and Contact. The
Crystal Keeper is her first series for adults.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The national bestselling author of The Wedding Soup Murder returns to the Jersey Shore where a killer is stirring up trouble during a hurricane…

At the Casa Lido, the end of summer means a party, and hit whodunit writer Victoria “Vic” Rienzi and her family are cooking like crazy for the restaurant’s seventieth anniversary celebration. As they chop onions and garlic, old family friend Pete Petrocelli stops by, saying he knows something that would make for a good mystery novel. Curious, Vic asks Nonna to elaborate on Pete’s claim and learns of a relative who mysteriously disappeared back in Italy…

The night of the party brings a crowd—and a full throttle hurricane. When the storm finally passes, everyone thinks they’re in the clear—until the first casualty is found, and it’s Pete. Remembering his visit, Vic isn’t certain Pete’s death was an accident and decides to dig deeper into his story. What she finds is meatier than Nonna’s sauce…